Rose Mary Wolfe in Lestock, Saskatchewan. Bella Johnson in Whitefish Lake, Alberta. Jacob Grey in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. James Paul in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia.
The list goes on and on 鈥� children who died in sa国际传媒鈥檚 residential school system. Child victims being named for the first time.
On Monday, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation revealed the names of 2,800 children who died in residential schools during a sombre ceremony in Gatineau, Que.
A 50-metre-long, blood-red cloth bearing the names of each child and the schools they attended was unfurled and carried through a crowd of Indigenous elders and chiefs, residential-school survivors and others.
Many openly wept. Mournful songs performed by Indigenous artists pierced the quiet sadness that hung over the room.
The list has been created to break the silence over the fates of at least some of the thousands who disappeared during the decades the schools operated.
鈥淭oday is a special day not only for myself but for thousands of others, like me, across the country to finally bring recognition and honour to our school chums, to our cousins, our nephews to our nieces that were forgotten,鈥� said elder Dr. Barney Williams, a residential-school survivor and member of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation survivors committee.
鈥淚 know that the angels in heaven 鈥� the names that are on that list 鈥� are certainly smiling down on you and me. Smiling down to know that finally, after all this time, they are not forgotten.鈥�
The cloth is the product of years of research conducted on what happened to the many children who were taken into residential schools and never came out. Archivists pored over records from governments and churches, which together operated as many as 80 schools across the country over 120 years. It鈥檚 the start of meeting one of the 94 calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report issued in 2015, which called for resources to develop and maintain a register of deaths in residential schools.
A total of 150,000 Indigenous children are thought to have spent at least some time in a residential school.
鈥淚t is essential these names be known,鈥� said Ry Moran, director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which compiled the list.
The 2,800 are those whose deaths and names researchers have been able to confirm. Moran says another 1,600 also died, but remain unnamed.
There are also many hundreds who simply vanished, undocumented in any records so far uncovered.
Some schools have an extensive list of students who died; some list none. Moran wonders at such large discrepancies.
鈥淓ven our recent research efforts have uncovered another 400 students,鈥� Moran said. 鈥淲e know there鈥檚 many more students to be found.鈥�
The age range is wide.
鈥淚nfants, three-year-olds, four-year-olds all the way up through their teenage years. We鈥檝e got some students on this list that are named as 鈥榖abies.鈥� 鈥�
A number of national Indigenous officials spoke at the ceremony Monday, which felt much like a funeral for the many young victims of abuse and neglect in residential schools.
National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations mourned for the 鈥渓ittle ones,鈥� many of whom were buried unceremoniously in unmarked graves.
He called the deaths of the children in the schools a 鈥済enocide鈥� 鈥� echoing the findings of the final report of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, which was released earlier this year.
鈥淭he residential-school system was a genocide of Indigenous peoples, First Nations peoples, forcibly removing from their homes and inflicting pain,鈥� Bellegarde said during the ceremony.
鈥淲e still feel the intergenerational trauma of that genocide. We see it every day in our communities. But now we say there鈥檚 hope, because it鈥檚 not just (the term) 鈥榮urvivors鈥� we want to use. The people are ... thrivers, starting to thrive, becom(ing) proud of who we are as Indigenous Peoples.鈥�
But not everyone was feeling so upbeat about the current state of affairs for Indigenous children in sa国际传媒.
After all, many are still dying of suicide and from the effects of other systemic mistreatment, Moran said.
鈥淢y greatest fear right now, and I think a reality for this country is that there may very well be another day like this in 80 years, remembering the children that are dying today,鈥� he said.
Moran noted concerns raised recently by well-known Indigenous advocate Cindy Blackstock, who called for more political attention to a ruling earlier this month from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The ruling found the federal government had been 鈥渨ilful and reckless鈥� in discriminating against First Nations children living on reserves by knowingly underfunding child-welfare services.
鈥淲e live in a country that is still in the midst of a human-rights crisis, profound human-rights violations. We鈥檝e got to do better and we can do better and I hope that all Canadians feel that, if we get this right, we鈥檒l be a better, stronger country,鈥� Moran said.
Although the names of the victims unveiled Monday are public, the details researchers have been able to uncover about them will be restricted to families.
The work won鈥檛 stop, Moran added. The team continues to seek the names of the 1,600 others confirmed dead and to find some kind of resolution for the children who disappeared.
Researchers plan to return to First Nations communities to refine the list, fill gaps, and add as much as they can. Many, many graves need to be located.
They will also try to collect as many and as much of the stories behind the names as they can.
鈥淭hat is the next phase 鈥� making sure that when we remember these children, we bring life to them and help understand what really went on. That鈥檚 got to be led by the communities and the families. We鈥檙e there to help.鈥�
The work has been difficult and draining 鈥� 鈥渞eally, really harsh,鈥� Moran added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2019.
